Maine ‘hermit’ gets marriage proposal, bail offer. [previously]

A former head of a sports memorabilia auction house who admitted to using shill bidders to drive up prices and to altering the most valuable baseball card ever sold.

A judge whose smartphone disrupted a hearing in his own courtroom has held himself in contempt and paid $25 for the infraction.

Mexico City tries to get salt shakers off tables.

A man who apparently blew himself up with explosives was known to record video of his neighbors from his property, prompting calls to police from residents. [Thanks Tim]

Men can’t read women’s emotions, study confirms.

Data from a new study of British adults suggest that following a “Western-style” diet (fried and sweet food, processed and red meat, refined grains, and high-fat dairy products) reduces a person’s likelihood of achieving older ages in good health and with higher functionality.

Nobody really understands why listening to music — which, unlike sex or food, has no intrinsic value — can trigger such profoundly rewarding experiences. Salimpoor and other neuroscientists are trying to figure it out with the help of brain scanners.

Using brainwaves for authentication, instead of passwords.

Frequent texters tend to be shallow, research suggests. [Thanks Erwin]

Facebook Charging $1 Million For New, Intrusive Video Ads That Will Run In Users News Feeds. TV-Like ads can be bought for four broad demographic swaths.

Apple is said to be getting very close to nailing down streaming licensing agreements with Universal Music Group and Warner Music.

Trader pleads guilty to making unauthorized purchase of nearly $1 billion in Apple shares.

Virtual Bitcoin Mining Is a Real-World Environmental Disaster.

In other words, it doesn’t matter how much experience you have. It doesn’t matter why you lost your previous job — it could have been bad luck. If you’ve been out of work for more than six months, you’re essentially unemployable.

5 Ways You’re Wrong About Surviving Disasters.

James Joyce’s grandson describes image on official commemorative coin as an ‘insult,’ says coin fiasco is typical of Ireland’s treatment of his family.

In 1983 psychiatrist Giles Brindley demonstrated the first drug treatment for erectile dysfunction in a rather unique way. He took the drug and demonstrated his stiff wicket to the audience mid-way through his talk.

Has anyone ever been killed by a falling piano?

A Complete History of Breakout. [Thanks Tim]

11 very unusual elevators.

Vacuum-Wrapped Tokyo Couples.

Fuck your frame cluster and bench tableau with a cactus on top.

Unhappyhipsters.com

every day the same again | April 16th, 2013